the overthrow of Sodom

29:23 the overthrow of Sodom. The historical reality of the catastrophic overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim was still known to Moses after some six hundred years. Note also Amos 4:11. Furthermore, the prophecy that the fertile land of Canaan would eventually deteriorate to essentially the same desolate condition did indeed come to pass after the children of Israel forsook the Lord, rejected their Messiah, and were finally driven out of their land.

29:29 secret things.The apparently out-of-context insertion of this declaration into God’s “covenant” (Deuteronomy 29:1) with the children of Israel was probably to encourage them to “do all the words of this law” in view of God’s ability to “reveal” things to come. In any case, it expresses a vital principle. Everything revealed in the Bible is forever certain, and for our understanding and application. On the other hand, we should not be exercised about the “secret things.” These will be made known in ages to come, and it is presumptuous for people today to seek hidden information through occult practices or through esoteric and far-fetched Bible interpretations.